Here's Exactly How I Plan to Spend My Social Security Checks in Retirement

The majority of Americans collect Social Security benefits in retirement, and I expect to be one of them.

Since I'm taking many steps throughout my career to prepare for my senior years, I've thought very carefully about what I hope to do with these checks from the Social Security Administration.

After considering all the details about how Social Security works, I've made clear plans. Here's how I plan to spend this money once it eventually starts coming in after a couple more decades.

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This is what I plan to do with my Social Security benefits

My plan for my Social Security benefits is simple. I'll use the money solely for fun spending, and not to cover any necessities. In my case, this will most likely include traveling in my RV and trying to see as much of the world as possible.

Since I plan to devote 100% of my Social Security income to vacations and other enjoyable spending, the rest of my retirement planning efforts are focused on generating enough income elsewhere to cover all of my essential costs. That includes things like healthcare and housing.

I want the money for all of these essentials to come out of tax-advantaged retirement plans. To make sure I have enough saved that I don't have to rely on Social Security for covering critical expenses, I'm doing my best to invest a lot of money in my IRA. Since I don't have a traditional 401(k) as a freelancer, I'm also using some retirement accounts for the self-employed to save even more.

There's an important reason why I've made these plans for my Social Security

It may seem very privileged to say that I don't plan to rely on Social Security to cover the essentials. But I didn't decide this because I want to indulge in tons of fun spending as a retiree. Instead, I'm sacrificing now to save more money so I don't have to count on Social Security for the essentials -- because I don't trust what the future holds for the retirement benefits program.

To be clear, I don't believe that benefits will disappear by the time I get to retirement, although I know that is a common concern that people my age have. I know that Social Security is funded by revenue coming in from current workers. Even if the trust fund runs dry and lawmakers don't act, enough taxes are being collected over time to fund the bulk of the promised payments.

However, although I know I'll get some Social Security, the big reason I don't want to count on these benefits to cover necessities is that I have no control over exactly what that will look like. For example, lawmakers may decide that they want to reduce benefits to shore up the program; that they want to raise full retirement age so you have to wait longer to claim; or that they want to set income caps on who collects full Social Security benefits. All this could mean that I end up getting less money than I expect.

I don't want to count on Social Security to cover the basics and then lose some of the money because of changes to the law. And since I have no real way of knowing what lawmakers will do, I'm treating this money as "extra." If I get all that is promised, that's great because I can have a really fun retirement. If I don't, I know I can still cover the bills.

It's hard enough for many people to save for retirement, so it may be a tall order to invest enough that you don't have to rely on Social Security for your monthly bills. Still, the reality is that no one can know for sure that they will get all the benefits they think they will at the age when they need them. So, you should set it as a stretch goal to try to save enough to get by without them.

Even if you don't quite accomplish that, aiming for it allows you to be more prepared for your retirement, no matter what surprises come your way.

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